Senior guard Cortez Tillman scored a game-high 25 points and the host Tommies shot 60 percent from the field and had only nine turnovers in Monday night's 88-77 MIAC men's basketball victory over Augsburg at Schoenecker Arena.

The No. 6-ranked Tommies (11-1 overall, 6-1 MIAC) are 4-0 in a 10-day stretch to start January and pushed their season win streak to seven. Ten of their 11 wins have come by double-digit margins.

After struggling at the foul line in a pair of recent wins, St. Thomas knocked down 14 of 17 at the stripe Monday to help hold off the stubborn Auggies (8-4, 3-4).

Augsburg sank 11-of-22 treys and had only 11 turnovers to stay close. It led just once at 2-0 but couldn't completely erase the deficit over the game's final half.

UST built a 17-point lead at 35-18 only to have the Auggie close the half on a 20-6 run and pull within 41-38 at the break. The Tommies kept a cushion throughout the second half but led just 81-75 with 2:29 left after the visiors' Richie Perea converted a four-point play.

Ryan Saarela rebounded a missed UST attempt with 2:01 left to give the Toms a new shot clock, and Tillman's layup with 1:13 to go started a 7-2 game-closing run.

Saarela finished with eight points, nine boards and five blocks. Jimmy Remke had 18 points of the bench; Grant Shaeffer added 15 points and four assists; and Taylor Montero scored 13 points.

Freshman Kevin McKiernan scored 14 points for the Auggies. Perea chipped in 12 points; Brett Rasmussen added 11; Nick Varner scored 10; and Collin Olmscheid had nine points and 11 rebounds.

St. Thomas has a one-half game lead over second-place St. Olaf and a one-game cushion on three teams including St. John's. UST plays the Johnnies Wednesday night in Collegeville.